


blooming, blooming, dead

by Little Keplerette (classycloudcuckoolanderclasso)



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, hanahaki byou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 14:58:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11969775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/classycloudcuckoolanderclasso/pseuds/Little%20Keplerette
Summary: The sad thing here, however, was that they loved him too, but not in the way that his heart wanted them to.Oh, cruel, cruel fate.





	blooming, blooming, dead

"Preston?"

Preston pauses in his writing to look up, an eyebrow raised at the approaching Space Kid - Neil, he corrects himself mentally, and then, as an afterthought, he corrects himself again with  _Space Kid_ , because having two Neils was confusing enough already. "YES? What is it, Space Kid?"

"It's Harrison and Nerris," Space Kid mumbles worriedly, scuffing the ground with his heel. "They're fighting again."

Preston groans. "Specify, Space Kid, SPECIFY! They always fight - we have CODES for the levels of fighting now."

With how often Nerris and Harrison were at each other's throats, Preston had sat himself down with the other campers - minus the offending two - and devised a list of codenames for the various levels of antagonistic actions they could take against each other. It had become almost trademark for the two magic kids to always be at odds with each other, even after the establishing fact that Harrison was  _technically_ the only magical kid between the two of them, possessing real magic powers in contrast to Nerris, who could only pretend (though she always had startlingly good luck with her dice rolls, which made many of them question the legitimacy of her possibly having the terrifying power of  _luck_ on her side).

Space Kid makes a small noise of confusion before a lightbulb lights up over his head, and he pulls out his pocket list of the codes. He scans through it before saying, "Uh, Code Lightning Bolt?"

Code Lightning Bolt meant that Harrison had taken another jab at Nerris's LARPing.

Preston pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers before shooing Space Kid away. "ALRIGHT, alright... I'll be there in a moment, Space Kid. I just need to FINISH MY MANUSCRIPT before TOMORROW!"

"Okay!" Space Kid salutes, and toddles away, as Preston returns to his manuscript for this year's camp play. The Romeo and Juliet one had been an utter  _disaster_ , and while last year's amateur Heathers adaptation had been slightly better, Preston had been ready to throttle the Flower Scouts for not playing the Heathers  _just right_ \- except for Tabii. He liked Tabii. Tabii played McNamara perfectly.

Eyeing his current script - an untitled one at the moment - , Preston sighs, and places it under his pillow for the meantime before straightening out his collar and marching out of his tent, his ears soon being graced with the sounds of yelling and the sounds of crackling thunder. And also the sounds of dice pelting people's faces.

_Oh for the love of SHAKESPEARE._

"ALRIGHT!" Preston hollers loudly, catching everyone else's attention with his authoritative tone. While normally people took Preston as seriously as they took a grain of salt, they always gave way whenever it came to Harrison and Nerris, the same way they caved whenever any of the 'comedy trio' of Max, Neil, and Nikki were in a fight and one was distinctly not siding with any of them. "What is ALL THIS RUCKUS!"

Harrison and Nerris freeze - which ends up becoming quite literal as Harrison's powers cause both of their lower bodies to be frozen in place. This, of course, prompts another round of "You SUCK, Harrison!" from Nerris, which leads to Harrison yelling back, "No, YOU SUCK!" and you get the idea, don't you?

The other campers turn to Preston, eyebrows raised.

Preston doesn't glance at any of them. He only steps forward, placing his hands on the back of the two magic kids' heads respectively, before knocking their heads together gently.

The result is as desired - both of them yelp in pain and rub their foreheads as Preston crosses his arms and taps his foot, waiting for an answer.

"He/She started it!" They both yell.

"What?! No I didn't! You did!"

"You liar!"

"Do you REALLY want me to knock your heads together AGAIN?" Preston asks, and the two quiet down considerably before mumbling apologies to the theater camp representative. He only shakes his head, saying, "It's not ME you should be saying sorry to, you know."

It's Harrison who looks at Nerris first, and Preston feels a small twang in his heart at the look that crosses his face. He knows that face - Harrison is, at heart, more of a pacifist than him and Nerris, so of course he would be the first one to apologize. He had always been the soft-hearted of their little trio, and Preston loved him for that.

LIKED. Not loved. LIKED.

He did  _not_ love Harrison.

"... Sorry, Nerris," Harrison murmurs, and Nerris turns her gaze to him, blue eyes wide. Preston hated how her glasses amplify her eyes - eyes that he had described many a time as stunning sapphires in his various poems, transformed into lines for some of his plays involving her as one of the cast members. He always played it off as him having a penchant for describing things excessively, but when it came to Nerris, anything he wrote was only what he thought was the honest truth, with no embellishments. He loved her enough to do just that.

LIKED. Not loved. LIKED.

He did  _not_ love Nerris.

"... You jerk," Nerris grumbles, but there is forgiveness lacing her tone as she punches Harrison's shoulder lightly. Harrison's eyes light up in a way that makes Preston's heart clench painfully, but despite that, he sniffs and smiles as a delighted smile spreads across Harrison's face at her actions, prompting Nerris to smile widely as well. "I'm sorry too, Harrison."

"Ew, mushy stuff," Nikki comments on the side. Neil only nudges her with his elbow slightly to get her to shut up.

"Okay, now that we have you two calm again, what say you to getting that ice melted?" David smiles kindly, and the two mumble their thanks as Nurf and Nikki set to work on breaking them out of the ice. With that going on, the counselor turns to Preston. "Thank you, Preston. I know you were busy writing your next play."

Preston sniffs. "It was no big deal. I hit a writer's block."

"Speaking of the play, what's it about this year?" David's smile is nothing but happy as he gently prods at the theater enthusiast. "And who have you been looking at as your main actors this year? Will we be needing to call in the Flower Scouts as guest actresses again?"

Preston does a full body shudder that makes David laugh. "NO! I will not have those BITCHES ruining my performance AGAIN! Except for Tabii. She was great."

"Language, Preston," David reprimands before patting his head. "Well, whatever it is, I'll bet it's going to be  _wonderful,_ just like you. I wish you luck, and thank you again for helping us out with Nerris and Harrison."

The mention of their names makes Preston seize at his chest, and he coughs slightly, hunching over. There's something at the back of his throat, threatening to come up. He's not sure if it's his breakfast, lunch, or dinner, but either way, it's painful, leaving tears to prick at the corners of Preston's eyes as he coughs again, trying hard not to let loose whatever's clogging up his throat.

David's worried hand is on his back at an instant. "Preston? Are you alright?"

"I'm FINE," Preston manages to grit out, and with a strained smile, he declares, "I'm just- I'm just going to go and TAKE A NAP. Get the CREATIVE JUICES flowing, you know?"

"Oh, of course!" David straightens out, bright smile on his face. "I'll tell the other campers not to disturb you until tomorrow, is that good?"

It was. "Yes, THANK YOU, David," Preston replies gratefully before turning around to hobble towards his tent, and finally letting loose, coughing loud and hard onto his bed. He'd need to wash that tomorrow-

His eyes fall upon a single flower petal, sitting on his sheets, and, with a confused frown, he picks it up. It's a red flower, but not one that he actively recognized. He coughs again, and this time, he manages to catch another differently colored petal falling from his lips. This one is a rose petal this time, but it's yellow, though tinged with red. Preston eyes the red intently, and nearly recoils when he recognizes that it's  _blood_ staining the petal.

_What... what is going on?_

* * *

"Why do you need my WiFi?"

Preston wrings his hands awkwardly. He and Neil weren't exactly close, so the favor he was asking was outlandish and outright silly, actually, but damn it if he wasn't so desperate for answers. "I JUST- I mean, I just... I'm not feeling well, and... I wanted to look up my symptoms. I know we're not close, but-"

"I couldn't care less if we weren't close, Preston, but seriously? Gwen and David probably know better than the Internet, you know, especially if it's something you got out here," Neil raises an eyebrow. "How do I know you won't just look for boobs like Max tries to do every now and then?"

 _That_ stops Preston's nervousness almost immediately. "Max does that?"

"... Pretend I didn't tell you that," Neil waves off the slip up immediately before reiterating, "Preston. Can I trust you to look up what you need to safely without my supervision?"

Preston thinks, and declares, "I swear on my love."

"Your love?" Neil is half-amused. "For who, Shakespeare?"

Preston doesn't answer. His thoughts flicker towards Harrison and Nerris, and his chest tightens again. "I'm not telling."

"Alright, good enough," Neil stretches, and gestures to his rudimentary computer. "Be my guest, Preston. The erase history and cookies button is right there whenever you need it."

Preston smiles wanly. "THANK YOU, Neil."

"Don't mention it." And the boy leaves the tent momentarily, leaving Preston with his privacy.

Hurriedly, the playwright types up 'flowers' and 'sickness'. He gets a million results, but none of them are the ones he's looking for, so he tries to narrow it down to 'coughing flowers'.

The first result catches his eye.

_**HANAHAKI BYOU - IS IT REAL?** _

Intrigued and prodded by the pain in his chest, he clicks.

 **_H_ ** **_anahaki byou (花吐き病): a disease associated with unrequited love. While rare, hanahaki byou blooms within the person only in specific circumstances, and most are in very dire cases of unrequited love._ **

_Hanahaki, huh?_ Preston reads on.

**_The few documented instances of hanahaki byou have proven the disease to be fatal - if not remedied with the reciprocation of the feelings or removal of the flowers that bloom within the person's chest, it can lead to certain death after two months at worst, six years at best. With removal of the flowers comes the removal of the unrequited feelings, along with any memories of the person who is the subject of the unrequited feelings._ **

Preston's heart practically sinks in his stomach as he clicks on delete history and cookies, and for a moment, he thinks about who he could have possibly fallen for that caused  _this_.

And then his mind traces upon the curves of Harrison's smile, and drowns in the beauty that is Nerris's eyes, and he hunches over Neil's keyboard, coughing and spitting out flowers. They're full heads of flowers this time, and Preston's mind manages to recognize them this time now that they are full flowers and not just petals - red carnations, yellow roses, orange roses, orange lilies, gardenias, it's a strange assortment that leaves him breathless by the time he's done coughing them up.

 _Shit,_ Preston thinks to himself, because Neil's computer and keyboard are covered from top to bottom in flowers he had regurgitated helplessly, and just as his minds struggles to think of how to explain the whole thing to the science enthusiast, Neil returns, though with horror at the sight.

"Preston! The fuck did you do?!" Neil firmly but gently shoves him away from the computer to look at all the flowers. "Jesus Christ, did the Flower Scouts catch you off guard and cover you in these flowers or something?! How am I supposed to clean this up now?!"

He wants to apologize. Apologize for the mess he made. But the flowers are backing up in his throat, and Preston just knows that if he opened his mouth again, they'd come tumbling out, and give him away. He couldn't have that. So instead, he schools his face into an apologetic expression, which Neil manages to understand, at least. Thank God for Neil.

"It's okay, Preston. Tabii's fucking insane," Neil shakes his head before clearing his keyboard. "I'll handle this. You go rest or something. You're sick, aren't you?"

Preston nods quickly, and ducks out of the tent, only for his back to bump into someone. He turns around, ready to apologize, only for the apologies to die on his tongue as he realizes that he bumped into Nerris.  _Oh, FUCK._

"Preston!" Nerris's eyes sparkle in recognition, and Preston  _curses_ whichever parent gave her those pretty eyes. "I was just looking for you! We were about to continue our campaign from last time and I was just about to get Neil while Harrison went to get you. Wanna join us this time?"

Preston swallows harshly, willing the flowers to  _back the fuck down,_ just this once. "Ah- no, I- I'm not feeling well."

"Do I need to call David or Gwen?" Nerris asks, concern lining her face, and Preston is just about ready to cry, because  _damn it all, she wasn't allowed to be this cute. He wasn't allowed to feel this way about her, or Harrison, because they were his FRIENDS and they liked EACH OTHER, NOT HIM. There wasn't room for a third. There will never be room for a third-_

"Preston!"

Preston shakes his head, snapping out of his trance. "S-sorry..."

"You look really pale... I told you that you had to put more points in Constitution!" Nerris scolds before sighing and taking his hand in hers. Preston feels more flowers building up in his throat, his lungs, and it takes all of his willpower not to break as Nerris murmurs, "I'll take you back to your tent. You can play with us next time, okay? Rest."

On the way back, they encounter Harrison, and Preston is about ready to puke as Harrison frowns at the sight of him. "Preston? Are you okay?"

"He's obviously not okay, dummy," Nerris snaps before sighing. "Help me get him into bed?"

"Okay," Harrison concedes without so much as an argument, and he takes Preston's other hand without complaint. It makes Preston want to cry even harder, because the pain in his chest is  _unbearable_ , the feeling of slowly choking on your own feelings too much for even him to bear as he lets himself get tucked into bed, Nerris prying off his frill and placing it atop his suitcase while Harrison checked for Preston's temperature with the back of his hand.

"You're warm, like, really warm," Harrison comments uneasily, drawing back his hand. "Maybe we should get David and Gwen."

Preston shakes his head weakly, and Nerris only crosses her arms. "You're making this worse for yourself, Preston."

 _I know,_ is all Preston can think of before he shakes his head again to solidify his decision. With a sigh, Harrison concedes, and he places a hand on Preston's shoulder, as does Nerris. "Well, get better soon, okay? It'll be hell just dealing with Nerris all the time."

"That's not going to make him feel better!" Nerris punches his arm, but they're both laughing. Preston smiles weakly, but it's painful, and as the two walk out of his tent, he closes his eyes, frowning to himself, the feeling of flowers overtaking his lungs coming to the forefront of his senses occupying his thoughts as he came to terms with his feelings.

He, Preston Goodplay, loved Nerris.

He, Preston Goodplay, also loved Harrison.

He loved both of them equally, and they loved him.

The sad thing here, however, was that they loved him too, but not in the way that his heart wanted them to.

Oh, cruel, cruel fate.

* * *

He suffers through his hanahaki quietly.

He manages to feel better enough to get back to his screenplay, but, upon looking back at his prior script, he scraps it in favor of a new one. His hanahaki had provided him with inspiration for a new storyline - one that would hopefully help him feel better about everything. It wouldn't cure him, but it'd make him feel better.

When David peeks in one day to check up on him, he finds Preston, snoring atop his script, and quietly, he picks up the sheaf of papers, reading through the script briefly. If one were there to witness him doing so, they would have noticed his eyes grow wider with each line of dialogue, until finally he puts the papers down again, waking the sleeping playwright abruptly. He makes no comment besides "This is great, Preston!", which makes Preston preen with pride, but the moment he turns his back, he goes to Gwen.

"David?" Gwen looks up at him in confusion.

David inhales, and then exhales. "Gwen... what do you know about hanahaki byou?"

"Hanahaki byou?" Gwen's eyes light up in recognition. "I know a few things. Why?"

"I think Preston has it, but he won't say anything about it."

Gwen  _freezes_ _._ "What made you think that?"

"There are  _way_ too many flowers around here, and he hasn't been looking fine for a while now," David admits. "And I... read through his latest script."

His fellow counselor narrows her eyes. "You're basing your suspicions off of his script."

"No, it's..." David sighs. "It's way too similar to recent events to be anything but the truth. His script uses Harrison, himself, and Nerris as the main cast, and all of the events in the play mirror events that have already happened to us here at Camp Campbell. It's way too coincidental - Preston doesn't write like that."

Gwen frowns. "So what do you want to do?"

"I want to help him," David confesses. "But I don't know how."

"Then let him be."

"Gwen..."

"This isn't something we can help with, David," Gwen states seriously, placing a hand on his shoulder. "And if the articles I read before on hanahaki are anything to base off of, he has to deal with this on his own."

"He looks so  _pale,_ Gwen. I just want to help him."

"I know, but the best way we can help is not helping at all," Gwen's face becomes pained. "Even we can't stop the flowers in his lungs."

* * *

It's in the middle of the play performance when Preston's body is wracked with pain again, and he curls in on himself, coughing. Nikki and Neil are currently onstage performing for the rest of the campers their scene, so the only witnesses to his attack are Harrison and Nerris, who are at his side immediately, holding him tight. He wants to push them away, tell them to  _leave him alone_ , because it's  _their fault he's feeling this way,_ but he's too weak to as Nerris whispers, "Preston, we're up next. Are you sure you want to go on stage? You look like you've been poisoned by a Level 40 Manticore."

"I'll be-" He wheezes, a hand slapping over his mouth to catch the telltale petal that falls from his lips. He tightens his fist around it as he smiles painfully. "I'll be FINE, Nerris. The show must go on."

Harrison and Nerris frown at each other, but say nothing. They know Preston is stubborn enough to push through with anything, despite anything, so they back away, and prepare for their performance, while Preston curses himself for his feelings, and curses the flowers in his chest for nearly giving him away.

_Stupid, STUPID feelings._

"Preston? Nerris? Harrison? You fucks are up next or whatever," Max calls from the side, and the two magic kids move to the other side of the stage while Preston situates himself across from them, perched on a chair, eyes closed.

_This is the pivotal scene. This is where they find out everything. You have to do this PERFECTLY!_

The curtain lifts.

"Philip?" Nerris's voice calls out, and Preston opens his eyes at his cue. "You asked us to meet you here?"

"Nythera," Preston murmurs. The name had been Nerris's contribution to the script. "Henriq."

Harrison scratches the back of his neck awkwardly - as is the mannerism of his character, Henriq. Preston had modeled Henriq, Nythera, and Philip after the three of them almost exactly, save for a few defining characteristics, making it easy for the three of them to get into character. It certainly made things easier. "What's the matter, Philip?"

"I just..." Preston chokes for a bit, and panic dances across Nerris's and Harrison's eyes. And, though unseen, panic dances in David's and Gwen's as well. "I just thought I'd get something straight, before school ended this year and we graduated."

The flowers in his chest protest, but he slaps them down mentally. "You... you guys know that we're best friends, right?"

"Of course!" Nerris - Nythera - says, pretending to take offense. "What do you think we are, mashed potatoes?"

"No," Preston chuckles dryly, swallowing back another flower.  _Just a little more_. "Well... I..."

He coughs, loudly. A full gardenia - a full, traitorous gardenia - escapes his lips, and falls to the stage, right in front of everyone. Preston's eyes water, and just like that, the dam breaks. More flowers spill from his lips like a waterfall, and David and Gwen practically knock everyone down to get to Preston, whose arms are wrapped around himself as he throws up more and more flowers, most of them becoming more bloodstained by the minute. Everything is painful, and the world is spinning, and as Preston's eyes flutter closed, he brings up the image of Nerris and Harrison once more in his mind.

 _How... dramatic a death, this is,_ he muses to himself, before he passes out.

* * *

When Preston wakes, he finds Nerris and Harrison on either side of him, holding one of his hands, and himself in a hospital bed.

He blinks, and realizes that the others are strewn about the hospital room as well. Nikki and Max are curled up against Neil next to the wall while Dolph, Space Kid, and Ered are all leaning against Nurf, who is serving as their solid wall. Gwen and David are seated against the wall, Gwen's head on David's shoulder, and all of them were fast asleep, as were Nerris and Harrison.

Preston's thoughts crash into each other in a halt as he processes the image.

_He's in a hospital. Nerris and Harrison are holding his hands._

Beat.

_Where is the choking feeling?_

Beat.

_... Where are the feelings?_

His hands fly up to grab at his chest, and, much to his surprise, Preston feels no more pain, no more flowers in his chest. It's like it had died in his chest. The sudden movement, however, startles Harrison and Nerris awake, and with a simultaneous cry of "PRESTON!", the two magic kids smother their best friend in tight hugs, leaving him breathless, but in a good way.

Their yelling wakes up the rest of the camp, and as the others flock around his bed, Preston's gaze turns to David's. David, on his end, lifts up a jar, and Preston's eyes widen at the amount of petals inside, and he grabs at his chest again.  _Those... those came from me, didn't they?_

"Yes," David murmurs, answering the unspoken question. "They're yours now, if you want to keep them."

Harrison quietly passes the jar to Preston, who traces the label of 'Preston Goodplay' on the jar before looking back up at David. "David... what happened?"

"You passed out on stage coughing up those petals," Gwen explains quietly from the side. "It... really wasn't pretty."

"You fucking choked on these for two months, Preston?" Max grabs the jar and rattles it in front of Preston's face before placing it back in his grasp. "Jesus, Preston, you're a crazy bastard, but I didn't think you were THAT crazy. You could've died, shithead."

Neil sighs. "He's right. Is that what you looked up on my computer?"

"..." Preston nods slightly, and Neil only sighs again.

"But... David..." Preston tilts his head to the side slightly, and only then does he feel the bandages around his throat. His hands reach up to touch them, and in an instant, he understands. Understands why the concept of Nerris and Harrison holding his hands do not have the same burning heat to it, understands why he feels nothing instead of feeling something for these two people he called his best friends. Sure, his brain and heart processes them as his best friends, but other than that?

There is nothing. The feelings that had tortured him for so long - gone. There is no romantic attachment to neither Harrison nor Nerris, no nothing.

It's a dizzying emptiness.

When he turns to Nerris, he still recognizes her eyes as beautiful, but that's it. There is no more feeling. He can tell she's been crying though, because her eyes are puffy behind her large lenses. He doesn't comment on that - he only places a hand atop hers, and on Harrison's as well.

"You could've told us, you dumb idiot," Nerris mumbles half-heartedly.

Preston wants to laugh, but it comes out hollow. He's too tired to even return to his usual volume. "You two liked each other? Everyone saw that - even me. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know until just recently."

"Wha-" Harrison glances at Nerris, and while the two of them do blush, confirming that they did indeed feel some degree of attraction for each other, there is a strange sort of desperation in both their eyes as they turn their gazes back to Preston. "We did like you too, though, Preston?"

"We're best friends."

"You know what we mean," Harrison mumbles.

Preston knows that's supposed to make him blush. Make his stomach curl up in knots, make his heart flutter. But he feels nothing. "Harrison. Nerris. Don't lie to yourselves, to me, or to anyone else. And don't  _force_ yourself to feel something you don't really feel." He looks down at the jar of incriminating petals on his lap. He traces his name on the label again. He wants to burn the flowers. Get rid of them. "I don't feel anything for you two anymore. It's okay. We can go back to normal now."

"..."

"..."

The two magic kids look at each other, and only take Preston's hands into their own. It's a while before Nerris murmurs, "If that's what you want, my sweet bard."

"So, does anyone want pizza?" David asks, to diffuse the mood.

The results are instantaneous - the kids all brighten up, demanding certain toppings on their pizza, while David laughs, trying to maneuver through the yelling to get each order perfectly. Quietly, Preston leans back against his hospital bed, and watches patiently, as Nerris and Harrison excuse themselves to go to the bathrooms.

The moment they step outside, however, instead, they head for the entrance of the hospital, and the moment their feet hit the soil instead of clean tiles, Nerris doubles over, hands over her mouth. Harrison holds her all the while, but he himself is coughing just as hard, eyes watering.

And then, it stops.

They stare at the bloody red carnations covering their feet, and sigh. 

**Author's Note:**

> red carnations - Alas for my poor heart, admiration, my heart aches for you, friendship, pride, fascination.  
> yellow rose - Joy, friendship, true love, decrease of love, jealousy, try to care, freedom, slighted love, shows "I care", gladness.  
> orange rose - Fascination, display feeling of enthusiasm.  
> orange lily - flame, I burn for you.  
> gardenia - You're lovely, secret love, joy, sweet love, good luck.
> 
> -=-=-=-=-
> 
> EDIT 9/3/17: yall,,,,,,,,,, your comments are great thank you....... especially when you tell me you ship it now..........
> 
> EDIT 11/3/17: it's the two month anniversary of this fic i have never written anything better i love yall


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